The battles of the USS charleston
by slingi
Summary: a story about a federation ship during the dominion war
1. Chapter 1

Notes:

I don't own star trek (though I wish I did)

Knowing federation, Klingon, Cardassian and jem'hadar ship classes would be of use

There are many deaths

This story set in the DS9 era

Chapter one

"Captain we are receiving a distress signal from the Argolis sector and long range sensors are detecting weapons fire from three ships"

"Ensign Samson set course for the Argolis sector warp 8"

"Aye sir course plotted and laid in" replied ensign Nikita Samson her voice as calm as always "engage"

As the USS Charleston titled on its axis and engaged it warp drive Captain Thomas Brooks sat back in his chair of his Akira class heavy cruiser and thought about how long this war had been continuing for. Ever since the space station Deep Space 9 in the bajoran sector had been taken over by the Dominion/Cardassian alliance the Federation and Klingons had suffered, Brooks recalled in his mind the ambush of seventh fleet where 98 ship out of 112 were destroyed his ship was one of the 14 ships who made it back to federation lines but even they were in bad shape. His train of though was shattered by his tactical officer Lieutenant Matthews

"Captain we'll be in visual range in 2 minutes sensor have now identified the three ships, two are jem'hadar attack ships and one is the USS valiant an excelsior class cruiser it is heavily damaged and leaking drive plasma, one of the dominion ships is damaged as well"

It only took a second for captain brooks to come up with a battle plan.

"Lieutenant Matthews as soon as we are in range raise shields and fire all phasers at the damaged dominion ship and fire a volley of photon torpedoes at the second ship"

"Aye sir" replied Matthews "phasers ready, photon torpedoes armed"

"sir we are in visual range now" Samson reported

"Thank you ensign, put it on the main viewer and drop out of warp"

"On main viewer now captain, slowing to impulse"

The scene displayed in front of them was one of disaster the valiant was listing on is port side though it was still firing, there was drive plasma leaking out the starboard nacelle and there was a large breach in the hull near engineering a phaser blast from the valiant skimmed the hull of one of the jem'hadar vessels which replied by firing 2 torpedoes at the valiant these torpedoes both hit the port warp nacelle rupturing that just like the starboard one.

Lieutenant Matthews broke the silence "Captain the jem'hadar ships are coming around for another pass"

"Fire at will Mr Matthews" shouted first officer Rand

"Aye sir" replied Matthews "phasers firing, torpedoes away"

The arrival of the Charleston had taken the jem'hadar by surprise as phaser shots punched straight through the shields of the already damaged vessel destroying it, while of the torpedoes fired only 2 hit the vessel impacting on the shields but doing little damage the others missed narrowly as the ship swerved but then it exploded as the valiant fired.

Captain brooks breathed a sigh of relief "Lieutenant Matthews open hailing frequencies"

"Hailing frequencies open captain" replied Matthews

"USS valiant this is captain Brooks of the Charleston do you require assistance"

"This is Lieutenant Kennedy yes we need help that last shot damaged our warp core we have 5 minutes till a warp core breach I've just ordered abandon ship captain we need to beam people over to your ship"

"Beam them into a cargo hold and we'll use our transporters to beam people off as well" said Brooks quickly

"Please hurry captain" there was a sense of urgency in his voice "Kennedy out"

"Lieutenant Matthews get down to cargo bay 2 and also get the medical staff down there" ordered Brooks

"Aye sir" replied Matthews already on his way off the bridge

"Captain to all transporter rooms lock on to any life signs and beam them over now, no.1 with me, you have the bridge ensign Samson keep us in transporter range but put some distance between us and the valiant"

"Aye sir" she replied, her voice still it's usual calmness

As the captain and his first officer left the bridge ensign Samson tapped her console and the ship rotated on its axis and moved slowly away from the valiant, then she tapped her combadge "Samson to Captain, two minutes left till the valiant's warp core breaches"

"Thank you for the update ensign were are in transporter room 2 if I am needed"

"Captain" said the transporter chief as the entered the room "this is the last group"

"That's great chief" replied Brooks


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

As captain Brooks and commander Rand entered the transporter room the final group re-materialized one of them they realised was wearing only her undergarments and had a tank top over her head she also had a row of odd looking spots going up her legs and up the sides of her body "where am I?" she spoke.

"Nilani" shouted one of the others on the transporter pad "pull your top down"

As she pulled her top down captain Brooks noticed the spots didn't just cover her body they went up her neck and onto her forehead as well.

Nilani looked around stunned and again she asked "where am I?"

It was commander Rand who spoke "you're on the Charleston your ship was attacked and is about to breach"

Captain brooks tapped his combadge "brooks to bridge get us out of here now maximum warp"

As the Charleston sped off the valiant exploded into a huge fireball, even at her distance she still got showered with debris.

Back in the transporter room the group stepped off the transporter and introduced themselves to the captain.

A tall man walked up to the captain "I'm Lieutenant Kennedy and this" pointing to the half naked woman stood next to him "is Lieutenant Nilani Veral"

Brooks looked at her and said "Lieutenant Veral would you care to explain your attire?"

"Several hours ago the doctor gave me something to help me sleep I had just woken up and as you can she was getting dressed when I was transported off. I never knew we had been attacked" Explained the lieutenant

"Okay, no.1 can you get lieutenant Veral some clothes and then escort this group to my ready room for a briefing" ordered Brooks

"Aye sir" replied commander Rand

5 minutes later Nilani was dressed and waiting with the rest of the valiant crew survivors in the ready room

While sorting out her clothes Nilani told commander Rand that instead of being transferred to another ship she wishes to stay on the Charleston and also answered his questions about her race that being a Trill, so he informed the captain of Nilani's request.

"Captains log Stardate 23485.2 we'll be going to Starbase 312 to drop off the Valiant's crew except for lieutenant Nilani Veral she has requested transfer to this ship and I have granted it, it will take us a week to get to the Starbase where everything will be officially sorted." Said captain Brooks to the computer which recorded him

As Nilani walked onto the bridge after the briefing with the captain of the Charleston and walked to her new position at the OPS station everyone on the bridge looked at her, as she sat down she looked across at Ensign Samson and smiled she smiled back and then thought to herself "hum new person" then and her exobiological interests took over, she then said "and its a Trill I've got to talk to her sometime."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

After taking some much needed shore leave along with the rest of his crew on Starbase 312 captain Brooks was summoned to Admiral Morris' office, the admiral was a man who was short in stature but high in popularity and command ability, the reason he summoned brooks was not a good one.

The admiral after greeting him and sitting down said "Thomas, we have a situation, while on a routine scouting mission one of Starbase 357's runabouts detected on it's long range scanners a large dominion/Cardassian fleet less than a day away from the Starbase I need you to lead a joint support fleet to the Starbase to help in it's defence" he handed him a padd showing details of the fleet brooks studied it for a moment and spoke

"Quite a mixed fleet 1 Defiant, 2 Excelsior's, an Ambassador class, 4 Klingon birds of prey, 2 K'tinga cruisers a galaxy class and 2 akira including mine, You do realise admiral that developing an attack plan will be difficult without any information on the opposing fleet"

"Ah that Thomas I can help you with according to the sensor logs the fleet we detected consists of approximately 32 Jem'hadar ships and 25 Cardassian ships but there may be more that were undetected, our support fleet is assembling at outpost 5 it's only 5 hours away from the Starbase at warp 7 so you better get over there as soon as you can. We cannot allow that station to fall into dominion hands if it does you have the authorisation to do whatever necessary to stop them using it's advanced technologies up to and including destroying the station." He said with a slightly raised tone of voice, "is that all admiral" brooks asked

"No dismissed captain and good luck don't let that station fall" the admiral replied.

With that brooks left the admirals office and started walking back towards the air lock to the Charleston, he walked past a trill ran bistro and he noticed two women one wearing a tight tank top and the other wearing a loose fitting button fastened top sat at the bar they both looked familiar to him, he went up to them to confirm his suspicion

"Lieutenant Veral, Ensign Samson" he said "ah captain how are you" Veral asked "I'm fine lieutenant" he replied

"Won't you join us" she asked, he sat down and asked a bartender for a surian brandy, "I was telling Niki about the trill race, she's very interested in the biology of different races" she glanced at a young trill bartender he came over "do you think you can rustle up a black hole for me? Full content" She asked the bartender he nodded and walked off to prepare her drink

"Nilani you shouldn't drink something with that much alcohol in it, couldn't it harm your symbiont" Niki asked slightly concerned

"I agree" said the captain. The bartender returned with her drink he handed it to her and she drank most of the glass in one, putting the glass down she said "well it never did anything to my previous host Selin he loved them, but he did die early in his life" she drank the rest of the black hole then looked over at the same bartender again, giving him the 'I'll have another one' look. Brooks noticed she was wobbling slightly on the stool she was sat on he voiced his concern

"you should slow down on the drinks lieutenant you look like you've had plenty already" the captain finished his drink and stood up I'm returning to the ship you need to as well were getting ready for departure, after we leave I'm giving you an hour to sleep you drinks off then I want you both in my ready room" "aye sir" the ensign replied her face showing concern as she looked back as Nilani, after hearing their reply brooks left the bistro and resumed his walk to the ship. After Nilani had drank her second black hole Niki persuaded her that they better get back to the ship they left the bistro they attempted to walk back to the ship but Nilani was feeling the affects of the black holes she could hardly walk after a few unsuccessful attempts they fell back against a wall, Niki tapped a com panel on the wall

"Ensign Samson to Charleston, 2 to beam directly to my quarters" no sooner than she had released the button they de-materialized off the Starbase and re-materialized in her quarters Nilani headed for the door tripping over several objects on the way

"Nilani stop" Niki said, Nilani turned around supporting herself on the door "your in no fit state to walk all the way to deck 4 from here you'd be better off staying in my quarters" Nilani pointed at the tank top she was wearing and mouthed the words 'uniform'

Niki rolled her eyes "don't worry about your uniform I'll get the replicator to make you one later, I've hardly slept during our shoreleave I need some sleep and your drunk so you need some sleep you can have the bed"

She went into her bedroom and got out a spare bed sheet, threw it down onto the sofa and then guided Nilani to the bed where she fell asleep almost instantly.

Captains log Stardate 42915.2 we are proceeding to outpost 5 at warp 7 to rendezvous with the support fleet then onto Starbase 357 the fleet is ready and waiting for us but we are still 1hour 40 minutes away the senior staff are waiting in my ready room for a briefing on the situation.

Captain brooks walked into his ready room, sat down and looked around the table his first officer commander Rand was sat, his tactical officer lieutenant Matthews was sat, and his chief engineer lieutenant noble was sat there were 2 seats empty, brooks tapped his combadge

"Brooks to Ensign Samson" he got no response "Brooks to Lieutenant Veral" again he got no response "computer" he said "locate Ensign Samson" " Ensign Samson is in her quarters" the computer spoke back "locate Lieutenant Veral" he said " Lieutenant Veral is in ensign Samson's quarters " the computer replied Brooks looked and pointed at his tactical officer "Lieutenant Matthews go to Ensign Samson's quarters and get them both up her now" Lieutenant matthews got up from his chair and left the room, then in the turbo lift went down to deck 7 and at his usual fast walking pace went to the door of her quarters, he pressed the door chime and waited, he looked stunned as Nilani opened the door wearing just as white bra and pants that contrasted against her black spots.

"Yes matthews how can I help" she asked wiping sleep from her eyes

"You, both of you should have been in the captains ready room 15 minutes ago we are all waiting I am to get you up there now" he said

"Okay give us a minute" she said, shutting the door she walked over to the sofa where Niki was lying "Niki" she said she didn't even stir annoyed Nilani grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her till she woke up "what is it?" Niki asked

"Get dressed quick we should have been at the briefing 15 minutes ago Matthews is waiting outside" she answered Niki shot up from the bed and grabbed her uniform she also grabbed a spare uniform of Nilani's and threw it at her, they both eventually left Niki's quarters and joined lt matthews on the walk back to the turbolift matthews tapped his combadge

"Matthews to captain Brooks" he said "yes lieutenant?" said the captain

"I have them and we are on our way we'll be with you in a few minutes" a few minutes later the door opened to the captains ready room and in they came and sat "ah lieutenant, ensign nice of you to join us" brooks said with a slightly sarcastic but serious tone of voice

"Sorry sir it must have been the alcohol it will not happen again" Nilani said

"I hope not" he replied "okay people this is the situation" he got up and pressed a button on a wall console the console lit up showing outpost 5, Starbase 357, the fleets position and the Charleston's current position "Starbase 357's sensors show a dominion fleet that is now less than 12 hours away from it a joint fleet has been organised and the Charleston it to be the flagship of it we are rendezvousing with the fleet at outpost 5 we hope to arrive at the Starbase before the dominion fleet does, questions?" "Captain" Niki said "roughly how many ships are in the dominion fleet"

"The sensors picked up 57 but there may be some that were undetected"

"And roughly how many in our fleet" she asked

"Thirteen including us Starbase 357 is one of our most powerful starbases she'll level the odds" there were murmurs from different members "this is suicide 13 against 57 we stand no chance"

Brooks was about to speak when he was interrupted by hi combadge

"Ensign Smith to captain brooks"

"Yes ensign what is it" the captain replied

"Were approaching the perimeter of outpost 5 we are dropping out of warp"

"When we drop out of warp find and group up with the fleet"

"Aye sir"

The Charleston dropped out of warp then the ship lurched violently and stopped completely brooks tapped his combadge

"Bridge, report" he asked

"Lieutenant noble says four of the antimatter injectors just ruptured possibly due to damage from our last engagement, we have no warp drive captain" said ensign smith concern showed in his voice

"Can they be repaired?" brooks asked

"Negative sir" Smith replied "they will have to be replaced I'll notify the outpost and see if they can send us some replacements"

"I certainly hope they can."

brooks turned to his senior officers "dismissed" he said "If needed I'll be in engineering" brooks left the ready room followed by his senior officers he headed straight for a turbolift and went directly to engineering were the chief engineer lieutenant noble was elbows deep in the antimatter injector housing

"Lieutenant" the captain said "how bad is it"

"Very bad sir 4 of the five injectors have ruptured no possible way of repairing them we have to hope outpost 5 has some spares"

Yes I hope to" he tapped his combadge "Ensign Samson get us underway again"

"Aye sir" he replied

As the Charleston started moving again, two birds of prey came towards them and started weaving around the ship

As the senior officers returned to the bridge ensign smith stood up and moved to a different workstation as Ensign Samson came onto the bridge and took her place at the helm alongside her was lieutenant Veral who resumed her ops station.

Brooks returned to the bridge a few minutes later and took back his chair from commander Rand

"Sir" said Ensign Samson "we are being hailed its captain Krastak of the voloth"

"On screen"

The viewscreen changed from viewing the two birds of prey circling them to an inside view of the klingon ships bridge showing the klingon captain and his first officer

"Captain Brooks we heard you had a accident were here to escort you to the fleet" the klingon said

"Thank you captain Krastak, we lost four of our antimatter injectors, hopefully the outpost has some spare."

"Lets hope" the Klingon replied "shall we get underway"

"Yes, Ensign Samson set course for the fleet, maximum impulse"

"Aye sir course plotted and laid in" Samson said

The Charleston got in motion flanked by the two birds of prey and within 10 minutes they were orbiting outpost 5 along with the rest of the fleet

"Lieutenant Veral hail the outpost"

"On screen sir"

The viewscreen changed from the outside of outpost 5 to the ops station of the outpost showing a young woman of command status

"This is Commander Galloway of outpost five, captain brooks your message was relayed to us by the Exeter but we have a problem"

"What is the problem?" brooks asked

"You need four antimatter injectors we only have two left on the entire station" she replied "do you think your ship can run on 3 injectors?"

"One moment" he tapped his combadge "brooks to engineering"

"Lieutenant Noble here sir"

"Can an akira run on 3 antimatter injectors?" he asked

"I believe so but we'll be limited to about warp 4.5" noble replied slight concern on his voice

"Thank you; ops estimated time to Starbase 357 at warp 4.5"

"Estimated time warp 4.5, 8 hours" Veral answered

"And how far away from the Starbase is the dominion fleet?"

"According to the latest sensor sweep from the Starbase 7 and a half hour" she replied

"Damm, commander Galloway send the injectors over and we'll get underway as soon as there installed"

"Aye captain, good luck, outpost 5 out" she said the view screen changed back

15 minutes later with engineering crews working like crazy the antimatter injectors were installed and the fleet got underway at warp 4.5


End file.
